San Francisco County, California: fatal crash statistics

Counties of California by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 48 deaths in 42 fatal crashes in San Francisco County in 2024.

FARS records 356 deaths in 338 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 4.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of California in the same years is 10.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, San Francisco County was number 23 of 58 counties of California.

Deaths in San Francisco County fell by 1.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (361) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (356).

In the counties of California the deaths rose by 17.5% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 0.6% of the fatal crashes in San Francisco County with a known setting were rural, against 29.9% in California.

To qualify as a FARS case, the crash had to involve a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and must have resulted in the death of a motorist or a non-motorist within 30 days of the crash.
The set of first files, known as the Annual Report File (ARF), is released following the crash year. The ARF is replaced about a year later with a final file, which contains additional cases or updates to cases that had become available after the ARF was released.
NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

This page rests on the FARS 2024 annual file. NHTSA released it on 1 Apr 2026. NHTSA can revise the counts in the final file. Release dates

Figure 1.Deaths in San Francisco County by year, 2015 to 2024

Table 1 has the numbers. Go to the table

Since the last update: no figure of this county has a change on record.

Deaths and fatal crashes by year

Table 1.San Francisco County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	48	42	6
2023	35	34	10
2022	42	41	4
2021	34	33	5
2020	32	30	1 or 2
2019	39	34	3
2018	27	27	1 or 2
2017	25	25	1 or 2
2016	36	34	4
2015	38	38	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	356	338	38

Each year from 1975

Figure 2.Deaths in San Francisco County by year, 1975 to 2024

Tallest column: 86 (1975)2024: 48

The columns with a stronger shade are the years 2015 to 2024.

Table 2.San Francisco County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	48	42
2023	35	34
2022	42	41
2021	34	33
2020	32	30
2019	39	34
2018	27	27
2017	25	25
2016	36	34
2015	38	38
2014	33	32
2013	35	34
2012	30	30
2011	30	30
2010	31	28
2009	39	39
2008	35	35
2007	53	52
2006	42	39
2005	33	31
2004	43	38
2003	52	47
2002	39	38
2001	39	38
2000	49	47
1999	45	45
1998	61	59
1997	54	53
1996	51	47
1995	64	60
1994	63	62
1993	54	53
1992	65	61
1991	68	66
1990	85	78
1989	53	51
1988	76	73
1987	47	45
1986	49	48
1985	75	71
1984	57	53
1983	63	61
1982	73	71
1981	62	58
1980	86	83
1979	80	74
1978	82	76
1977	72	70
1976	66	66
1975	86	82

Note: a count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2". A death is in FARS when it occurs in 30 days or less after the crash.

Rate for each 100,000 residents

Table 3.San Francisco County beside California and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	San Francisco County	California	United States
2024	5.8	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	4.2	10.1	11.8

Note: the rate divides the deaths in the county by its residents. Persons who do not live in the county are in the deaths, not in the residents.

Population: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. San Francisco County had 820,945 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.San Francisco County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in California
A driver recorded as drinkingof 338 fatal crashes	38	338 fatal crashes	11.2%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 338 fatal crashes	106	338 fatal crashes	31.4%	30.2%
No restraint usedof 60 occupant deaths with restraint use known	19	60 occupant deathswith restraint use known	31.7%	38.0%
Pedestriansof 356 deaths	180	356 deaths	50.6%	26.0%
Bicyclistsof 356 deaths	18	356 deaths	5.1%	3.8%
Motorcyclistsof 356 deaths	59	356 deaths	16.6%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 338 fatal crashes with the condition reported	1 or 2	338 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	0.6%	29.9%
In the darkof 336 fatal crashes with the condition reported	176	336 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	52.4%	57.5%

Note: FARS records a driver as drinking when police reported alcohol involvement or a test of the driver was positive for alcohol. It is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure, which uses a blood alcohol concentration of .08 g/dL or higher. One crash can be in two or more rows. NHTSA's definitions

Note that alcohol data is often missing. For that reason, this data element may under-count the actual number of drinking drivers.

NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

Weekday, time and road class

Table 5.San Francisco County: fatal crashes by weekday and time of day, 2015 to 2024
Weekday	Midnight to 6 a.m.	6 a.m. to noon	Noon to 6 p.m.	6 p.m. to midnight	All
Sunday	21	4	9	8	42
Monday	9	9	11	10	39
Tuesday	9	8	11	17	45
Wednesday	8	8	16	19	51
Thursday	14	10	13	6	43
Friday	13	13	9	19	54
Saturday	16	9	16	21	62
All days	90	61	85	100	336

Note: a cell with a stronger shade has a larger count. The table has the fatal crashes with a known hour and weekday.

Table 6.San Francisco County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in California
Interstate	36	10.7%	13.7%
Other freeways and expressways	23	6.8%	12.6%
Other principal arterial	148	43.8%	30.1%
Minor arterial	66	19.5%	21.7%
Major collector	20	5.9%	12.3%
Minor collector	1 or 2	0.3%	2.3%
Local	44	13.0%	7.3%
Not reported	0	n/a	n/a

Note: the classes are those of the Federal Highway Administration. The shares are of the crashes with a reported class. Road function classes

Light condition and weather

Table 7.San Francisco County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	147
Dark, not lighted	29
Dark, lighted	145
Dawn	5
Dusk	8
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.San Francisco County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	268
Cloudy	47
Rain	18
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	3

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in San Francisco County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In San Francisco	In all of California
Interstate 80	Interstate	22	445
Interstate 280	Interstate	15	101
State Route 1	State highway	10	502
State Route 35	State highway	1 or 2	35
State Route 82	State highway	1 or 2	44
US Route 101	US highway	32	1,025

Note: the table has each route with a page that has a fatal crash in the county, in name order. Local streets and county roads have no page. Their crashes are in the county totals. All routes in California

Adjacent counties

These lists are for navigation. They are in name order.

Figure 3.San Francisco County on the county map of California

Deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year, 2015 to 2024

Fewer than 1014 counties
10 to 14.99 counties
15 to 19.914 counties
20 to 29.913 counties
30 or more8 counties
San Francisco County: 4.2

The limits of the classes are the same for every state. A county with few residents can show a high rate from few deaths. A class is not a judgement of a county. The full map and the table of counties of California

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with San Francisco County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Alameda County	California	100	965	5.8
Contra Costa County	California	66	811	7.0
Marin County	California	11	122	4.7
San Mateo County	California	30	369	4.9

Source of the list: Census Bureau county adjacency file, 2026 edition.

Counties of similar population

These counties of California have a population nearest to that of San Francisco County. The list is for navigation and is in name order. The number is the deaths from 2015 to 2024.

Official channels

NHTSA Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool (FIRST)NHTSA's query tool for FARS counts.
NHTSA FARS EncyclopediaNHTSA's tables of FARS data.
California Office of Traffic SafetyThe highway safety office of California.

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. San Francisco County, California: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ca/san-francisco/. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS 2024 annual file. Data to 31 Dec 2024.

The address of this page does not change.

Embed this card on your site

Copy this code into your page. The card shows the figures above with their source. A line under the card links to this page.

<iframe src="https://fatalroads.com/embed/county/ca/san-francisco/" title="Fatal crashes in San Francisco County, California" width="100%" height="300" style="border:0;max-width:640px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="margin:4px 0 0;font-size:13px"><a href="https://fatalroads.com/county/ca/san-francisco/">Fatal crashes in San Francisco County, California</a>, from fatalroads.com</p>

How embedding works. It is free. Keep the link in the card and the link line under it.

Source of the figures

Counts: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, national files of 1975 to 2024. The factors use the vehicle and person files from 2015. Residents: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, vintage 2025. Map: Census Bureau cartographic boundary file, 2021 edition. Data to 31 Dec 2024. The figures are totals. No page of this site is about one crash or one person.

How the figures are made. Data sources and licences. Corrections.

Questions

How many deaths did FARS record in San Francisco in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 361 deaths in San Francisco County from 2005 to 2014. It records 356 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of San Francisco in 2024?

The rate of San Francisco County in 2024 was 5.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of California was 9.8. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

How many fatal crashes in San Francisco had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 38 of 338 fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024. This count is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure. NHTSA says that alcohol data is often missing, so the count may be too low.

How many fatal crashes did FARS record on signed routes in San Francisco?

6 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 81 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.